Proto-Central Pacific (abbreviated as PCP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Central Pacific languages. It belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages.
| Proto-Central Pacific | |
|---|---|
| PCP | |
| Reconstruction of | Central Pacific languages |
| Region | Fiji |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
It was first proposed by George W. Grace in 1959,[1] who also named the subgroup in 1967.[2] It was reconstructed by C.F. Hockett in 1976.[3]
Descendants edit
Proto-Central Pacific, originally spoken by Lapita settlers in Fiji three millennia ago, separated into a dialect network, consisting of what would become a western dialect (ancestral to Rotuman and western Fijian dialects) and an eastern dialect (ancestral to eastern Fijian dialects and Proto-Polynesian). Later, the dialects that remained in Fiji converged back, eventually becoming more similar, leading to the present-day Fijian language.[4]
Phonology edit
The phonology of Proto-Central Pacific, according to Geraghty (1986),[5] are:
Consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal Stop prenasalized *ᵐb ⟨*b⟩ *ⁿd ⟨*d⟩, *ⁿdr ⟨*dr⟩ *ᵑg ⟨*q⟩ voiceless *p ⟨*p⟩ *t ⟨*t⟩ *k ⟨*k⟩ *kʷ ⟨*kw⟩ *ʔ Nasal *m ⟨*m⟩ *n ⟨*n⟩ *ɲ ⟨*ñ⟩ *ŋ ⟨*g⟩ *ŋʷ ⟨*gw⟩ Fricative *β ⟨*v⟩ *ð ⟨*c⟩ *s ⟨*s⟩ *ɟ ⟨*z⟩ *x ⟨*x⟩ Affricate *t͡ʃ ⟨*j⟩ Approximant *l ⟨*l⟩, *r ⟨*r⟩ *j ⟨*y⟩ *w ⟨*w⟩
Vowels Front Back Close *i ⟨*i⟩, *iː ⟨*ī⟩ *u ⟨*u⟩, *uː ⟨*ū⟩ Close-mid *e ⟨*e⟩, *eː ⟨*ē⟩ *o ⟨*o⟩, *oː ⟨*ō⟩ Open *a ⟨*a⟩, *aː ⟨*ā⟩
The orthography used is similar to that of Fijian.
Example sentence edit
From Kikusawa (2000, 167)[6]
*Na=ᵑgu
PST=1SG.GEN
tirovi=a
see=3SG
i
PRS
aku
1SG
(ʔi
LOC
na
DET
vale).
house
'I saw him (in the house).'
References edit
- ^ Grace, George W. (1959), "The position of the Polynesian languages within the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family", Memoir 16
- ^ Grace, George W. (1967), The effect of heterogeneity in the lexicostatistical test list: the case of Rotuman
- ^ Hockett, C.F. (May 1976), "The Reconstruction of Proto-Central Pacific", Anthropological Linguistics, 18 (5): 187–235
- ^ Geraghty, Paul (1996), "Some Problems with Proto-Central Pacific", Oceanic Studies: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Oceanic Linguistics: 83–91
- ^ Geraghty, Paul (1986), "The sound system of Proto-Central Pacific", Focal II: Papers from the Fourth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics: 289–312
- ^ Kikusawa, Ritsuko (2000), Reconstructing the actancy systems of Proto-Central Pacific and its daughter languages: ergativity, accusativity and their diachronic development